Research

We invest in three research areas where we believe your gift will make the greatest impact

HARD-TO-TREAT DISEASES

Our goal is to help researchers develop safer, more effective treatment options for cancer where survival rates remain low or haven’t improved in decades.

SURVIVORSHIP

The battle isn’t over when cancer is gone – so we fund research that aims to give every survivor of childhood cancer a long, healthy life after treatment.

HEALTH DISPARITIES

Children from racial and ethnic minority groups are less likely to survive certain cancers. We’re funding research that identifies the root cause of these disparities and builds interventions to eliminate them.

Many promising ideas don’t have the funding to move forward. Your gift fills that gap and ensures that talented researchers will leave no good idea unexplored.

Below are just a few examples of research projects that have been made possible because of dedicated supporters like you.

The progress you’ve made possible

DNA test could predict future brain tumor relapses in kids

Drs. Erin Crotty and Margot Lazow were motivated by their young, resilient patients to spend their careers studying some of the most difficult-to-treat and deadly cancers: brain tumors. Thanks in part to CCRF’s 2022 Emerging Scientist Award, awardees Crotty and Lazow are embarking on two novel research projects that will provide new avenues for families who usually hit treatment walls. Learn more about a DNA test exposing hidden brain cancer cells.

Could knowing genetic ancestry improve rhabdomyosarcoma outcomes?

Unlike some other childhood cancers, the outlook for RMS patients has not improved in recent years. But Ekene Onwuka, MD who is one of the inaugural recipients of CCRF’s new Disparities Award, hopes that fresh insights into the role of genetic ancestry could hold the key to more effective treatments.

Race Against Rare Leukemia – CCRF donors helped create a treatment where one had never existed before

CCRF donors created a groundbreaking treatment CCRF donors have played a critical role in creating a potentially life-saving treatment for a rare form of leukemia, where no treatment previously existed. This generosity has helped pave the way for better outcomes for children fighting this disease.